ninemsn and Channel Nine have launched Australia’s first
live news bulletin produced specifically for the web.

Covering news,
entertainment, sport, finance and weather, the 10-minute bulletin streams will
appear live at 12.30pm AEST each weekday.

The initiative bolsters the live news
content available on the website to in excess of 20 hours per week with The
TODAY Show live streaming nationally each weekday morning from 5.30am and the
Nine News bulletin live streaming at 6pm each weekday evening from Sydney,
Melbourne and Brisbane.

Andrew Hunter, ninemsn’s head of news, sport and
finance, said, “With more than 9.9 million people visiting ninemsn each month,
we know that many of those people like to check online news during the day,
particularly during their lunch break – the newsroom is an entertaining and
engaging way for our audience to stay in touch with the latest news headlines
each weekday, delivered directly to their desktops.”

A recent survey of 4,000
people on ninemsn showed that nearly 50% prefer to be online at lunchtime
between 12pm and 2pm, two-thirds of people surveyed eat lunch at their desks at
least once a week, while 46% of people surveyed eat lunch at their desks at
least three days a week.

“This is great news for the millions of hard-working
Australians who are stuck in the office without a TV. It’s an easy way for them
to keep in touch with the day’s news – our viewers won’t even have to stop
working on their computers. They can be watching the show in a window while
they’re still doing emails or whatever,” explained Channel Nine’s head of news,
Mark Calvert.

ninemsn also indicated that a number of commercial packages will
be available for advertisers in the coming weeks.